Red Flag
by TheGreatAnimeFan
Summary: WARNING read the genre tags and know that if you continue it's at your own peril. As the pendulum moves back and forth time shows us many different paths, and sometimes it's the decisions we make that determine the place you'll arrive. Rated T just in case. Takes place between Frozen in Time and Date of Doom.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note - Well if it wasn't obvious. I like a certain show, based off a certain visual novel.** **(It's Higurashi no naku koro ni)**

**I also like another certain show that I've written extensively for by now, and when I read through my old stuff I began to notice quite a few things, and thus I felt that a story like this was inevitable. Although I initially feared writing something grimdark due to backlash.**

**And thus hear we go. My first foray out of my comfort zone and into the genre of tragic horror. Hopefully I've done just as well with this as I have previous works, and I must stress that if you decide to read this do so at your own peril. This is not a happy fic after all, but you probably already know that. Nonetheless this is meant to be a love letter to both Stickin Around and Higurashi. As I love both I wished to try and combine both styles into one story. I hope you will enjoy it.**

_When we were together  
I thought it would be forever_

_When we were apart_  
_I thought it would be forever_

_Now that we've reunited_  
_I'll make sure its forever_

**Part 1 – Beginnings**

A panicked yell escaped Bradley's lips as he shot up into a sitting position. Almost immediately he began to frantically look around the room he was currently in his eyes wide, his breathing heavy, his body drenched in sweat, and his hands patting himself all over just to be sure everything was still there. As he began to calm down the more he began to recognize the room as his own bedroom, and he was presumably laying in bed just a few seconds prior to waking up. Looking over at the alarm clock on the night stand next to his bed he could see the time glowing faintly in the dimly lit room. It was seven in the morning, and on top of that as he checked the calendar on the wall it became clear that the date was Saturday April 7th. 2005. As he released a sigh of relief he wondered why he had been so panicked in the first place? He couldn't seem to remember at all. Maybe it was just the after effects of a bad dream since it wasn't unnatural for a person to forget the exact events they had been dreaming about before waking up. Before he could muse on the situation more, however, a loud tapping from the window interrupted him.

As he looked out the window he could see the spiky black hair and orange dress of his best friend who at the moment was tapping her foot impatiently with one of her hands on her waist as the other continuously threw a small stone into the air only to catch it a few seconds later.

"Hey B-man. Get a move on would you? We're gonna be late!" Stacy said in an annoyed voice before chucking the stone at Bradley's window causing it to make a tapping sound as it bounced off the glass.

"Late for what Stace? If you hadn't noticed it's Saturday." Bradley called out to her as he opened the window.

"Duh Bradley! Soaked Till Sick Water Park? Ring any bells yet?" Stacy rolled her eyes as she looked up at him even more impatiently. "It's just only what we've been doing every weekend! Now hurry up so we don't keep everyone waiting!"

"Alright, alright." Bradley resigned as he close the window and climbed out of bed. Only for a strange feeling of deja vu to come over him. Though it was honestly ridiculous and he couldn't even comprehend where it was coming from anyways. It was true that every weekend since he'd moved back to latchkey last month he and the rest of the gang had been going there pretty much every Saturday without exception. After all it's not like it was very far away, and unlike when they were nine their parents were perfectly fine letting them go on their own. Still there was no reason to have any sense of familiarity about the situation he reasoned. Shrugging it off while putting on his clothes.

"Well it's about time. I was starting to think I'd have to come up there and dress you myself." Stacy sarcastically complained as Bradley exited his apartment. Only to suddenly feel very confused and awkward when Bradley began circling around her with discerning eyes as if they were analyzing every inch of her from an extremely close distance. "W-What's with you all of a sudden? You're starting to creep me out." She responded in a soft tone as her entire face began to grow hotter and more red by every second.

"Are... you feeling okay Stace?" Bradley asked her before she pushed him away. "It's just for some reason I feel like we've had this same conversation before."

"Yeah try every single day. If it weren't for me you'd never be on time for anything." Her bossy tone kicked in despite the fact that her face was still the color of a ripe tomato. "A-Anyways we're wasting time. Lets go already so they don't leave without us."

"What's the big deal? We're only riding our bikes there. It's not like we couldn't make it there ourselves." He commented before getting slapped upside the head

"Because we agreed to our parents that we'd all go together remember?" She growled before taking Bradley by the wrist and dragging them to the meeting spot. "Anyways I'm not going to get yelled at by everyone because of how slow you're being so come on."

Fortunately for her they hadn't kept the others waiting too long, and although Lance had something to say about keeping them waiting for even a second; the promise of her foot connecting with a place that would make any man squirm was enough to diffuse the situation before it got heated any further. Soon enough they were on their way.

"Out on the open road; the wind at your back. This is the life isn't it Stace?" Bradley exclaimed as he revved his sweet ride.

"You can say that again. Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul." Stacy replied as she revved the engine of her own mean machine.

"Hey! Race ya!" Bradley began zooming past her at a greater speed.

"As if B-man. This is a busy highway. Don't do anything stupid." She responded in a voice half filled with annoyance for his recklessness and half with concern for his safety.

"Ha! Nothing bad happens when it comes to Brad Blood outlaw biker." Bradley responded pompously as he looked back at the girl eating his dust.

"Oh yeah meat for brains?" Stacy pointed right in front of him.

"Oh yeah. I'm so sure I'm gonna fall for- WOAH!" Bradley suddenly felt himself flying over the guard rail and rolling down a steep embankment. His bike landing on top of him with a thud as he finally reached the bottom.

"I told you so B-man." Stacy grumbled through Lance and Russell's loud laughter.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY MACKEREL! DID THAT LOOK PAINFUL OOOOOOOOOOR WHAT?" Dil exclaimed as he waved his arms around.

"Are you alright Bradley? You didn't break anything did you?" Bradley could hear Polly calling down to him.

"Just my pride." He sighed and pushed the bike off him only for Stacy's outstretched hand to appear in front of him. "You didn't have to come down here you know. Unless you just did so to laugh at me." He said as he swatted away the hand of the spiky haired girl standing in front of him with a mixed expression of worry and concern on her face.

"Don't be like that." She said softly as she helped him up. "Besides you're going to need some help getting your bike back up there."

"Would you two lovebirds hurry it up already? We could have been there by now!" Lance yelled down to the two teenagers pushing the bike back up the embankment.

"Yeah... Wasting time." Russell chimed in.

"Shut it Lance!" Stacy yelled up to him.

"Yeah! Me and Stacy lovebirds? Like that would ever happen in a billion years!" Bradley parroted in his own defense causing Stacy's angered expression to melt away into one she couldn't identify as she looked down towards the ground. However, Bradley didn't even seem to notice as the two finally got his bike back onto the road. The rest of the trip went quietly as Stacy just didn't feel like talking to him, while Bradley's ego was too damaged to talk to her. It wasn't long until they finally made it to Soaked Till Sick Water Park, and the group split up to go to the changing rooms.

"Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when I could say you looked cute in a swimsuit Polly." Bradley grinned innocently as the younger girl emerged from the changing room. Her red hair hanging down past her shoulders, which complimented the navy blue one piece with white stripes along the sides that she was wearing.

"While someone not of my stature might claim your comment is a rude as well as offensive sexual remark towards a minor such as myself. What with the way you worded your statement. I suppose I could accept your compliment of my physical attractiveness since its not like I could expect anything less from you." Polly responded matter of factually leaving Bradley to stare at her with a blank stare

"Say what now?" He scratched his head in confusion.

"Real mature B-man. I leave you for five minutes and you're already hitting on a girl younger than you." Stacy's annoyed voice filled the air as she came stomping out of the changing room towards him only to stop when she noticed the change in her best friends demeanor.

Bradley meanwhile had been completely blown away. It had been seven years since he had seen Stacy in a swimsuit, and while back then it never really seemed to matter to him as he looked at her now in the neon orange string bikini she was sporting no words escaped his lips. All he could think was how incredible she looked, and boy did she ever. Despite how incredibly skinny she was due to the seven years they had been apart it hadn't stopped her body from growing shapely and curvaceous. Evidenced by the way she moved as she made her way towards him.

"J-Just what do you think you're starring at?" Stacy found herself blushing fiercely as she brought up her arms to cover the front of her body in embarrassment. Which in turn caused Bradley to snap out of the trance he was in. What was he doing having such strange thoughts about his best friend? Just what the heck was he thinking? No matter how he looked at it; it just wasn't right!

"Well I suppose its possible for even someone like you to look good in a swimsuit Stacy Stickler." A haughty voice spoke playfully from behind her.

"That voice... It couldn't be!" Stacy moaned as she turned around to spot a girl with blonde hair reaching down the entire length of her back, which complimented the red rose colored string bikini she wore smirking from the doorway of the ladies changing room. Her arms folded determinedly across her chest. "Well, well if it isn't the queen of Middle Stick High. What's our royal pain in the rear doing here? Last I checked this wasn't daddy's country club." The spiky haired girl sneered as she looked at the blonde in question.

"Now, now nobody ever said this place was just for you poor and unfortunate types." The girl smiled as she walked over and patted Stacy on the head. :You really should learn to take a compliment."

"As if I need one from you Ashley!" The spiky haired girl growled in anger as she clenched her fists. "Besides I already know I look FAR better than you! Isn't that right B-man?" She looked over at her best friend only to gasp when she saw the expression on his face.

In Bradley's mind if Stacy had been a perfect ten then Ashley was easily an eleven. Which confused him greatly because he remembered how disgusted he had been about her back when they were nine. However, this seemed to be a completely different Ashley from back then. Mind you she still had the same awful personality, but there was still something different. Something he couldn't identify, but knew that it was something that aroused his interests. Man was he really feeling some kind of physical attraction towards Ashley? What in the world was wrong with him? He was starting to think that maybe he had been replaced with an alien shape-shifter cause there was no way this was normal.

Meanwhile Stacy just stared at him in utter disbelief and shock. So much so that she felt like she was shrinking to the size of a gnat as Ashley walked over and cupped her B-man's chin.

"Well it seems your companion thinks differently." She smiled in triumph before closing Bradley's slacked jaw, and trailing her fingers along his chest as she began to walk away from him. "Don't feel too bad Stacy Stickler. It's not your fault that he has good taste." She let out a playful giggle towards Stacy as she continued walking out of sight.

"W-What happened?" Bradley asked as he shook his head coming out of the trance he had been put in only to see his best friend still starring at him in complete shock from what her wide eyes and gaping mouth told him.

"I believe your interaction with Ashley caused poor Stacy's mind to go into a state of mental liquidation." Polly answered before shoving Bradley towards her "I believe trying to get through to her might make her regain her senses."

"O-Okay..." Bradley responded while not really comprehending it, but he was genuinely worried about the state his best friend was in right now. "Hey Stace? Stace! You can hear me right? Snap out of it already!" He shook her softly causing her head to bounce back and forth until finally she shook her head and looked back at him. "Oh good... you're... okay?" His voice trailed off as he looked into eyes filled with rage. Before Bradley even knew what hit him he was on the floor in a matter of seconds.

Stacy's foot had hit her mark.

"Serves you right." Stacy sighed exasperatingly as Polly tried to comfort Bradley who was now lying on the ground in a tight little ball whimpering incessantly. "Anyways we've been wasting a lot of time here. How about we at least try to have some fun today?"

"Actually Stacy if it would be alright. I would like to request Bradley's aid if possible." Polly answered only to see the disappointed look on the older girls face. "After all you know how my 'big brother' and Russell are, and as a girl at the tender age of twelve you can't expect me to walk around unsupervised." She smiled only for Stacy's disappointment to give way to a smile as well.

"I guess you have a point. It'd be wrong of me and B-man to go off and leave you on your own, and since everyone else are probably all in the park right now its not like we could find someone else." She said with the best smile she could possibly muster despite the sad tone in her voice. "I'll leave Mr. Immaturity in your care."

"Gee... Thanks mom..." Bradley squeaked out as the pain started to subside causing Stacy to roll her eyes.

"As for me I'm going to play some of the games." She turned around and shot up an arm to wave bye. "I'm feeling lucky today."

It wasn't long until Bradley was able to stand again causing him and the younger girl to stare at each other in awkward silence.

"So... I guess in a way I'm kind of like your big brother today huh?" He looked away and blushed a little

"I suppose you could say that." Polly too found herself blushing and looking away from him due to the comment until she felt Bradley take her hand in his.

"Come on Pol. Let's go show this place what having fun's all about." He smiled warmly down at her causing her to give him an equally warm smile in return as the two began to walk towards the main section of the park hand in hand.

Only for Polly to suddenly start running back towards the changing room at top speed dragging Bradley behind her.

"I forgot Pepperoni!" She exclaimed in horror

"Wait! Polly! I can't go in there!" Bradley yelled out as he grabbed the doorway to the ladies changing room and held on for dear life.

A few minutes and a few dozen apologies later. An extremely embarrassed Bradley, and Polly who was now dragging a yellow poodle wearing goggles, a snorkel, and dog sized flippers behind her walked into the main area of the water park. From that point on the day seemed to go very well as the two went on every attraction they possibly could. At one point they had even met up with Dil who was for some odd reason trying to surf the wave pool, and Melody who was watching in amusement from the shallow end. Not one to refuse a challenge Bradley had also attempted it as well only to fail just as much ad the other boy. They had also even bumped into Lance and Russell who proceeded to give Bradley an atomic hydro wedgie much to Polly's chagrin. Though as usual Her step brother and his stinky friend didn't pay any attention.

As for Stacy despite her earlier boasts her luck hadn't been all that good at all. In fact it had been completely rotten. She just couldn't understand it. Usually she dominated these low budget amusement park games easily, but today it seemed like her aim was totally off. Sure that idiot Bradley was on her mind but even so that shouldn't be enough to throw off her game... right?

"Hey Stace. We've been looking for you everywhere." Bradley grinned as he stuck a cone full of cotton candy in her face.

"Well I've been around here for your big fat information. It shouldn't have taken you that long to find me." Stacy replied as she took a big bite out of Bradley's cotton candy. Not that he seemed to mind since he continued eating it regardless.

"Are you okay Stacy? You don't seem to be excelling at your usual level." Polly asked the older girl only for her to snort in response.

"It's not a big deal. Everyone has their off days." Stacy grumbled.

"Not me. Stand aside Stace and let a man show you how its done." Bradley flexed and stepped up to the plate. The game was one of the most simple. Knocking over the tower of milk jugs with a baseball.

"I'm so sure Mr. Macho." Stacy felt herself fuming having not forgiven him from earlier yet.

"This will be a piece of cake." Bradley smiled smugly. Tossing the ball up and down in his hand a few times before throwing it. Only to miss completely.

"What was that about it being easy?" Stacy laughed at his expense.

"Hmph it just takes some determination that's all." He responded as he picked up another ball only for Polly to intervene.

"Actually you're holding the ball completely wrong. If you really want the best result you should be doing it like this." She smiled as she maneuvered Bradley's hand and fingers into the right positions to hold the ball. "Now try it." Bradley nodded and tossed the ball. Only to leave Stacy dumbfounded as he actually knocked the bottles over.

"See Stace? All in the wrist." He boasted only to be shocked when he had been given his prize. Usually you could expect some kind of stuffed animal from these kinds of things, but this wasn't anything like that. It was a doll with flowing blonde hair and wearing a large, frilly red dress. "Uh can't I have something that's... you know a little more manly?"

"Sorry kid. Thems the breaks." The game proprietor said as Bradley sighed in defeat.

"Haha even when you win, you lose huh B-man?" Stacy grinned in a humorous way. "Well since it's obviously something you couldn't want. I suppose I could take it off your hands."

Bradley looked from the doll, to his best friends face, and then back to the doll once more.

"Actually Stace. Since Polly helped me and all I think I'm going to give it to her if that's okay." Bradley stated good naturedly as he handed the doll to Polly.

"Huh?" Was the only thing Stacy could say in her confusion.

"Well it should be okay right? I mean you're not really into all that girly stuff anyways." Bradley commented.

"Y-Yeah that's true. Honestly I just thought it would be a good addition to my doll head collection. It's not like there was any other reason I'd want it." Stacy blushed slightly and looked away from him.

"See? It totally doesn't suit you at all." Bradley smiled and gave a hearty laugh.

"Actually Bradley I must protest that I am not much into dolls either. Although I do not mind accepting this token of gratitude. I'm sure I can try and find some use for it." Polly gave him a quick hug while Stacy just continued to stare at the ground.

As sunset came and the gang began their ride back to latchkey. Bradley noticed that for some reason Stacy seemed different from that morning. Maybe it was because of the vacant look in her eyes, or maybe it was because she seemed unresponsive to everything he said. All he knew was that something didn't feel right at all.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2 – Suspicions**

The next day had been relatively less interesting to Bradley than the previous. For some reason Stacy refused to speak to him, and when he had tried going over to her place to see what was going on he had been turned away at the door under the notion that she didn't want to see anyone right now. It didn't take a brilliant mind to see that Mrs. Stickler was worried about the state her daughter was in, and Bradley himself was just as worried. In fact he had been pretty concerned about her ever since he came back to Latchkey. All of a sudden it was like she was sticking to him like glue. Not that he had any issues with it, but the thing that worried him the most was her mood swings. It seemed like at the push of a button she was easily happy, angered, or depressed to an extreme state. The worst part was that he couldn't tell what buttons did which, and in a sense it made him wish things really were like they had been seven years ago when it had been easier to read his best friend. Eventually he gave up and went off with the others to have an all out water war of ultimate doom. However, without GI Jone there things really weren't the same.

It wasn't until Monday morning when he finally got to see her. For some reason he had overslept and in his rush to get to school he found her just standing at the entrance of Latchkey Garden Apartments starring at empty space with the same vacant expression he had seen that Saturday afternoon.

"Hey Stace! No wake up call this morning?" He jokingly asked as he approached her only to see her turn her head slowly towards him. As his eyes met hers it was like he was looking into an endless pit of emptiness.

"Huh? Oh... Sorry about that B-man. I've just had a lot on my mind." She spoke in a soft and slow tone with a face void of emotion.

"Are you alright Stacy? You don't look so good." He responded in a concerned voice as he looked her over. To him it seemed like she was the exact opposite of her usual vibrant and energetic self.

"I'm fine. I just didn't get a lot of sleep that's all." She continued speaking in a monotone as she pushed herself away from the wall she had been leaning against to start walking with him.

"Are you sure? You look kinda sick. Like you caught some kind of alien virus. An alien virus from..." Bradley paused dramatically only for Stacy to remain silent. "URANUS!" He smiled and laughed a little only for it to fade away as he looked at the emotionless girl walking beside him. Had she even heard him? For his best friend to not react in the slightest to his best material said a lot more than words ever could. Now he knew something was definitely wrong.

"What's with you Stace? You haven't been acting like yourself at all lately. It's starting to freak me out." Bradley complained only for his companion to stop in her tracks and stare up at him.

"Hey B-man? When was the last time that you and me did anything together?" She asked him straight out.

"What do you mean? We do things together all the time." Bradley responded in an utterly confused manner.

"Not with everyone else. I mean just the two of us." She looked down at the ground slightly as she spoke.

"What are you trying to say?" Bradley asked even more confused than he was before.

"Do you think... That maybe after school we could do something together? Just you and me?" She spoke softly in a voice he could barely hear.

"I... I don't know Stace. Doesn't that kind of sound like a date?" He responded as his eyes tried to focus on anything but the girl in front of him. Though he had always wondered what being in a relationship with Stacy would be like it was just a thought that remained in the back of his mind. Whereas the forefront of his brain took on the position that a relationship with his best friend would not only be a lot of work, but a very risky gamble. One that he really wasn't willing to try betting on since he didn't want to ruin what they already had. In the end he reasoned that going anywhere beyond friends with Stacy felt wrong, and would probably only end up in disaster.

"So what? What's wrong if it does sound like that?" Stacy protested in a loud voice causing him to flinch a little.

:"Well it's just... I don't want everyone getting the wrong idea like last time." Bradley shifted uncomfortably as he spoke.

"Oh... Is that it..." Was the spiky haired girl's response before she brushed past him to continue walking.

"Hang on Stace!" He called out as he slowly jogged in front of her causing her to stop walking once again. "If it really means that much to you... Then I suppose I can at least give it a try." He pressed his hand against his red baseball cap and lightly rubbed the inside of it against his hair only to see Stacy smile for the first time that morning.

Maybe things were starting to get better already.

At least that's what he had thought as he let out a sigh realizing there was no way for him to get a signal from within the locked utility closet. The day had seemed pretty normal up until the end when he had tried to skip out of gym early only to end up in detention. To make matters worse Lance and Russell had been eagerly awaiting him upon his release ready to dish out the usual wedgie and pounding. In his attempt at an escape he ducked into the first hiding place he could find, which turned out to be one of the utility closets placed around the building. Unfortunately he also learned that it was locked from the inside leaving him trapped in the small, dark, and damp closet. It wasn't until a couple hours later that he could breathe a sigh of relief as one of the night janitors opened the door to get supplies. Sure he had gotten an earful for being in an unauthorized area, but he was just happy to be free. As he took out his phone and checked his call log he noticed that he had gotten quite a lot of calls from Stacy. In fact as he was going over the dozens of calls in the log another call from his best friend appeared on the screen.

"B-man where have you been? I've been looking for you for hours!" Stacy's frantic voice came through the receiver as he answered the call.

"Sorry Stace. A lot of stuff happened it couldn't be helped." Bradley answered honestly.

"I'm so sure. I already know that you skipped out around the end of last period." He flinched as he heard the anger in her voice.

"Where'd you hear that from?" He asked curiously

"Duh from Dil who else?" She responded in an even angrier voice while Bradley just sighed in annoyance. That Dil he was such a blabbermouth, and yet he conveniently forgot to tell the other half of the story to the angry girl on the other end of the phone?

"Look Stace. I don't want to talk about it right now alright? I promise I'll make it up to you. See you later." He said a bit louder than he should have, but he was really stressed and annoyed right now.

"Hey! Wait!" Stacy yelled before the call was cut off.

After turning his phone off and exiting out of Middle Stick High School he was greeted by a clear, dark sky. Apparently he had been in there longer than he had thought. Even so it didn't take long for him to make his way home, and it took him even less time to think up a good excuse as to why he had been out so late without any contact. As he entered his bedroom he didn't even bother turning on his phone as he flopped down on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling. He was pretty sure Stacy was still trying to get through to him so that she could get a satisfactory answer from him, but he just wasn't in the mood to fight with her right now.

His eyes drifted towards the window as he looked at the clear night sky. Why did it feel like things had been going absolutely wrong ever since a few days ago? As his eyes continued to gaze at the world beyond the window he felt his body begin to freeze as his eyes widened in horror.

Stacy was standing in the courtyard right below his window like a stone statue. Her gaze chilling him to the core as she looked at him with the same lifeless eyes and emotionless face he remembered her having from that morning.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3 – Severing**

The next morning turned out to be the same as yesterday with the exception of Stacy not waiting around for him. Not that he minded it after what he had seen the previous night. Even though he was still worried about his best friend a part of him was just happy to have a break away from her. The weirdest thing though is that for over half the day he didn't see her at all, and was just about to consider that she had actually skipped school when the two finally met in the hall. The two of them freezing in place the second their eyes had met. As he stared at the girl in front of him he began to notice that she looked even worse than she had yesterday. Her hair was a mess, and almost looked like someone had poured a bucket of water over her head. Her face still wore that same expression he had seen last night as well except now she had dark bags under her eyes. In fact her entire appearance looked downright unkempt and disheveled. This seemed even less like the Stacy he had known for the past month since his return.

"Stace... What's happened to you?" He asked in a surprised voice.

"Nothing... I just didn't have a lot of time to get ready that's all." Stacy responded quietly as she looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"Stacy I don't get what's going on, but you can't keep going on like this. It's not healthy." Bradley moved a step towards her only to stop when she slammed her foot on the ground in protest.

"It's not like you care anyways." She said in a tone as if she really meant it. "Besides you've still got some explaining to do. Such as where were you yesterday?"

"I told you stuff happened that was out of my control." He said while doing his best to keep her calm.

"Is that right?" She shot back in a disbelieving tone.

"Yeah. I told you I'd make it up to you." He exclaimed only to notice her looking at him like she believed that even less.

"If you really mean it. Then make it up to me today. After school. Just you and me. No one else." Stacy demanded as she put her food down.

"Um today? Really?" He began to feel himself sweating bullets.

"What's wrong? You really meant it right?" Stacy's dull and angry eyes made him freeze on the spot..

"Sorry Stacy Stickler but your B-man has already made plans with me today." Ashley suddenly cut in as she stepped into the gap between the two teenagers.

"Oh really? And just what are these plans?" Stacy said in an even angrier tone as her eyes continued to focus on Bradley.

"Well... You see..." Bradley stammered as he looked at the rich girl in front of him for aid.

"Hmmm wouldn't you like to know." Ashley smiled devilishly in a teasing fashion as she took Bradley's hand in hers causing Stacy's anger to increase a thousand fold as the emotionless look on her face contorted to one of pure rage.

"I see... So that's how it is." She said in a calm voice despite the obvious traces of anger in the tone.

"Indeed. Now if you'll excuse us." Ashley turned around and began pulling Bradley down the hall behind her until they had disappeared out of sight around the corner. Meanwhile Stacy's eye began to twitch violently.

"Phew... Thanks a lot. I didn't expect you of all people to help me." Bradley breathed a sigh of relief

"Nonsense. With the way she's been acting lately it looked like you needed all the help you could get." Ashley responded as she looked at her own visage from within her compact.

"Yeah well Stace has been acting really crazy lately. To be honest I kinda wish she'd give me a little space." Bradley found himself saying without even realizing it.

"Believe me Bradley. At some point every person needs a break from Stacy Stickler." She said in a cool voice as she snapped the compact shut and looked him in the eyes. "Frankly I'm surprised you've lasted as long as you have."

"Even so thanks Ashley. I guess I owe you one." He looked down at the floor in embarrassment for saying such a thing about his best friend.

"About that. You can make it up to me by spending the afternoon with me. You didn't think I just made that up did you?" Ashley smiled before walking away "And unlike your behavior with certain people do try not to keep me waiting too long. A lady doesn't like to wait you know." She looked back at him and winked before continuing on her way.

"Yeah... Sure thing..." Bradley was absolutely dumbfounded by these events when suddenly his frozen stupor was interrupted by a loud sound coming from directly behind him. He turned around expecting to find someone, but the hall was completely empty. Slowly he began to walk forward, and as he made it to the corner of the hallway he noticed that it was also completely empty except for one thing. A fist shaped dent in the door of his locker.

Hours later as the sun began to set he found himself walking home completely exhausted. Ashley had worked him to the bone giving him a mile long list of places in which to accompany her, and in the end he had to do all the grunt work. As he made a mental note to never ask for a favor from Ashley again he found someone standing in his path.

It was Stacy.

She looked the exact same as he had seen her a few hours ago, but for some reason he could sense how dangerous the aura coming from his best friend was.

"Why would you lie to me... I wonder?" She asked softly with a face clear of emotion as she looked at the ground.

"What was that?" He asked as if he hadn't heard her at all.

"Why would you lie to me... I wonder?" Her voice was louder and far more serious this time as she continued to stare at the ground.

"What are you talking about Stace? I haven't been lying to you at all." Bradley raised his hands in defense.

"That's a lie..." She clenched her fists

"I mean things happen you know? It's not like I ditched you on purpose or anything." He put on a smile as he tried to appeal to the girl in front of him.

"That's a lie..." She grit her teeth

"Come on Stace. I really did mean it when I said I'd make it up to you. Today just wasn't a good day that's all." He laughed in good humor trying to lighten up the mood.

"THAT'S A LIE!" She raised her head showing an expression of pure rage and hatred on her face as well as in her eyes as she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her scream was so loud that all the birds in the area flew out of the trees they had been sitting in and scattered.

Just like the birds he was also filled with fear, however, unlike the birds his body was frozen to the spot as his best friend began to slowly walk closer to him.

"If you wanted to be left alone. You should have said something. I would have been happy to give you all the space you needed." She said in a soft, cool voice as she came within a few inches of him before turning around to walk in the opposite direction.

"H-Hold on a minute Stace. I didn't really mean it like that. Look how about tomorrow we do something together just the two of us?" He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder when he finally caught up to her. Only for her fist to smash into his face as she sharply turned around.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" She roared in a ferocious voice that was even louder than her previous scream as her eyes focused on the boy rubbing his nose on the ground. "In fact never talk to me ever again!" She swiftly turned her back on him and left him there alone.

As for Bradley even though he was frozen to the spot in shock of what she had done. He knew that his face wasn't the only thing hurting right now.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4 – Bonds**

After that night Bradley barely saw Stacy at all, and when he did it was like she acted like he didn't exist. Even her appearance and attitude had gone back to normal as if the past few days hadn't happened at all. While he was secretly glad that his now ex best friends mood had improved he didn't like the fact that she was shutting him out completely. This was all Ashley's fault. In fact he had wanted to give the rich girl a piece of his mind, but for some reason over the next two days he couldn't seem to find her around the school at all. Finally on Friday morning he was tired of it as he stormed through the hallway towards Stacy who at the moment was digging through her locker.

"Stace we need to talk." He decided on the direct approach only to be ignored. "I'm serious Stace this can't go on anymore." He protested as she continued to ignore him. "You can't keep giving me the silent treatment forever!" She slammed her locker door closed, and glared at him with hate filled eyes before turning around to walk away in disgust.

"Look I'm sorry alright?" He yelled at her back only to be surprised when she actually stopped dead in her tracks. "I've been a complete, horrible, totally disgusting jerk towards you, and I can't blame you for not forgiving me, but you can't tell me this is how you really want things to end can you?" He clenched his fists as he continued to speak loudly despite Stacy not turning around once to even acknowledge him. "I miss my best friend Stace! I miss you!" As he finished pouring out his heart he watched her start to walk away from him again. Maybe there really was no hope after all.

The day went on the same way as the last two. Stacy seemed to disappear at odd intervals and whenever he did see her she still completely ignored him. As school let out he found himself walking through the park alone until he eventually slumped down on one of the benches. As he began to wonder why things had turned out like this when only last week he and Stacy had been as inseparable as they'd ever been the feeling of something cold touching his cheek made him suddenly jump to attention as he noticed the spiky haired girl standing a few inches from hm. In the hand she had stretched out towards him was an open bottle of cold Mr. Fizzy.

"Don't get the wrong idea." Stacy said in her usual bossy tone as Bradley took the bottle from her. "I'm still mad at you, but I don't hate you."

As he took the Mr. Fizzy and drank it down he didn't care if she was still mad at him. At least she was speaking to him again, and in his opinion if this was what forgiveness tasted like then it was delicious.

"Thanks Stace. I was starting to think I lost my best friend forever." He responded with a smile.

"Of course not. After everything we've been through? Maybe I've been a little too hard on you." Stacy smiled back as she sat next to him.

"Really?" He asked when he already knew the answer, but hey he liked hearing her say that even she made mistakes.

"Yeah. You were right. It really wasn't your fault." She looked at him with eyes full of sincerity "I don't blame you at all so... Can you forgive me too?"

"Of course. I'm just glad things are going back to normal." He laughed a little before beginning to feel light headed. "Ugh... I'm not feeling too good... There wasn't anything in that Mr. Fizzy was there?"

"Of course not." Stacy remarked, offended that he would even suspect such a thing.

"Then... Then why am I suddenly feeling so tired?" He asked her as his vision began to get blurry and his voice began to slur a bit.

"I don't know. Maybe you just drank it too fast." She responded with her hands on her hips. "Just close your eyes and relax B-man. It'll pass."

That was the last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness.

As his eyes slowly began to open what must have been hours later. He realized that he was still in the park, and from the spilt bottle of Mr. Fizzy on the ground he could reasonably conclude that this was the same bench he had been sitting at when he and Stacy made up. However, Stacy was nowhere around, and the thought of her being even more angry with him had him worried. Just what had happened?

In any case from how quiet the streets were and how dark the sky was it could be assumed that it was about the middle of the night. Now he had two problems that was just great. Eventually he was able to drag himself back to Latchkey. Fortunately his parents were asleep as he snuck in so hopefully his parents wouldn't bust his chops too much, but as he laid in bed he found he just couldn't get to sleep. The events of earlier as well as Stacy ran through his mind. Picking up his cell phone he dialed Stacy's number several times hoping that he could apologize again for earlier only for none of his calls to get through. Still concerned and unable to sleep he changed out of his pajamas back to his street clothes, and headed out of his bedroom towards the front door.

Suddenly the sound of crunching glass caught his ear.

He took a few steps back and looked at the ground where his foot had been only to find the remains of a crushed syringe on the floor. As he got down on his knees to look at it in more detail he saw that it had also been recently used judging by the dried blood on the tip of the needle. Just what was this doing in his parents apartment? As far as he knew he didn't remember them being diabetic or anything where they would need to take shots, and as far as he was concerned there wasn't any other explanation as to why something like that would even be in his apartment. As he wondered how in the world he hadn't even noticed this when he first came in that evening he remembered why he was heading back out in the first place.

Figuring that a time for answers would come later he decided to get back on track as he left his parents apartment, and walked across the courtyard to Stacy's. As he looked through the windows it seemed like the lights were on, and from how it looked both of Stacy's parents were sleeping in a sitting position on the couch. Stella's head resting on Stanley's shoulder as a blanket covered the two adults. Which not only freaked Bradley out since this had made his list of things that would never happen in the history of ever, but it also dissuaded him from waking them up. He was sure Stacy wouldn't appreciate it if he did either.

Just as he was about to give up and head back to bed he noticed fresh footprints in the gravel leaving from Stacy's front door. Since he reasoned that the only possible person these prints could belong too was Stacy he began to follow them until he reached the door to the apartments basement. Now if there was one thing Bradley wasn't it was stupid. He knew that when it came to horror movies that take place at night the basement is the last place you ever go into. Then again he also reasoned that this wasn't a horror movie so there was really nothing to worry about if the only person in there was his best friend right? Right!

With that he slowly turned the door knob and stepped inside. Only for his facial expression to change into one of disgust as he stepped in something warm and squishy. He really hoped that wasn't what he thought it was.

As he turned his shoe over he found himself grateful that it hadn't been what he had thought but it was still kind of disgusting. Whatever he had stepped in was black and slimy. Not only that but the smell in the basement was worse than Russell after burrito day at school. He also noticed that whatever the slimy substance was that he stepped in there was a trail of it leading into the center of the basements hub, and in the center of the room was a mountain of something Bradley couldn't identify from his current position. The one thing he could identify though was the person standing in front of it. A girl with spiky black hair and an orange dress.

Due to his footsteps echoing as he entered the basement the girl in question turned slowly around to face him revealing that the entire front of her body including parts of her face and hair was covered in a red liquid.

"Oh... Hey B-man... I've been waiting for you." Stacy said in a soft and inviting tone as her emotionless face and lifeless, vacant eyes stared straight at him.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5 – Eternal**

Bradley looked at the girl in front of him in shock. The front of her body was covered from head to toe in what looked like blood. Had she been attacked? Was she hurt?

"Stace are you alright?" His panicked voice filled the room only for him to freeze dead in his tracks when he noticed the thing in his best friends hand.

A nata soaked in the same blood that she was bathed in at the moment. Without a word Stacy began to walk towards him.

"what's..."

She came closer

"Going on..."

She came even closer

"Here?" He suddenly found himself ducking and rolling to the side as if on instinct as she took a violent swing at him with the bladed weapon.

"What are you trying to do Stace? You could have killed me!" Bradley yelled only for Stacy to not waste any time as she dashed and lunged at him. Only for him to dive out of the way of another violent swing from the spiky haired girl.

As he backed away from her he found himself stumbling over something on the floor, but was able to get back his footing quickly. As he looked at the ground he noticed that it was a doll, but not just any doll. It was the same one he had given Polly that past Saturday. Except this doll had seen better days. There were multiple stab wounds all over its torso while the limbs and head had been severed off completely, and were now covering the floor. That's right! If there was anyone who could reason with Stacy it was Polly. Quickly he took out his cell phone and hit speed dial.

Only for his eyes to widen in horror, and his blood to run cold when he heard Polly's ring tone coming from the small mountain in the center of the basements hub.

"You didn't expect me to let her live did you?" Stacy said expressionlessly as she paused in her advance.

Now that he was closer to the mountain than he had been when he first entered the room. He took another look at it only to find himself gasping in horror at the sight. It wasn't a mountain at all, but a pile of corpses that were treated to the same extent as the doll. Maybe even less so as just from a glance he could tell that whoever these people were had been slowly tortured while they had still been alive.

"You know she helped me right? When I told her I needed some things for a chemistry project she was more than willing to give me a hand." She chuckled dryly in a way that filled Bradley with fear. "For a supposed prodigy she sure was stupid. You'd be proud of her though B-man. Unlike the others who begged for their lives she was the only one who showed any guts." She clenched the weapon in her hand tighter. "You know... she didn't even yell out or anything. She just kept starring at me no matter what I did to her. Starring at me in a way as if she was saying she understood me." For the first time since coming in Stacy's face changed from emotionless to one of uncontrollable rage. "THAT REALLY PISSED ME OFF!" She screamed as she jumped at him while taking another violent swing with the weapon. Only to howl in pain as it instead cut into a weak pipe, which caused boiling hot steam to shoot out into her face.

Meanwhile Bradley had ducked into one of the hallways leading to a group of side rooms. As he tried to catch his breath he turned to look back the way he came as the sound of metal hitting cement echoed throughout the basement. She was loudly proclaiming that she was coming his way. Looking around he noticed the other hallway that would circle back to the hub. There was a chance that he could get out of there if he took the other hall to get past her, but he knew he couldn't go empty handed. His eyes frantically continued to dart about the room until he saw something in one of the boxes in the corner. It wasn't much of a weapon but it was better than being unarmed he thought as he picked the object up, and began down the other hallway slowly.

As he got closer and closer to the entrance leading back into the hub he began to smile in relief. Only for that to vanish as he entered the room, and saw the spiky haired girl hitting her nata against the stone wall. She had not only completely fooled him, but now she was the only thing standing between him and escape. She didn't waste any time either as she charged at him again giving him no choice but to block her weapon with his own. He was definitely glad now that he had grabbed that steel baseball bat.

As the two weapons clashed in the basement of Latchkey Garden Apartments with Stacy on offense and Bradley on defense. He began to realize that she was pushing him back. He was giving his all wasn't he? He had to escape didn't he? After all he was a guy there was no reason he could be losing in power to a girl. Then why was he being pushed back? Suddenly his mind gave him the answer. It was because even though his opponent was Stacy, even though she was threatening his life. She was still his best friend. He didn't want to hurt her, he couldn't hurt her. Still he had to do something, or he'd wind up just another one of her victims..

"She wasn't stupid you know!" Bradley finally exclaimed as their weapons clashed causing them to meet nose to nose.

"What was that?" Stacy angrily growled

"I'm saying she may have helped you, but she wasn't being stupid. She just had faith." He responded as he noticed that he was beginning to push her back.

"Ha! Faith in what B-man?" Stacy's voice wavered slightly.

"In me! Even when you did your worst to her she never stopped believing that I would be able to stop you!" He answered as he pushed her back a bit more.

"As if! Do you think I'm an idiot? Only a complete fool would believe that!" She protested angrily as she began to push him back.

"Alright then. If you really want to kill me then I'll give you one chance!" Bradley said with determination as their weapons separated and the two combatants jumped away from each other. Bradley extended his arms to the sides and motioned towards her.

"You just made a big mistake." She fumed as she dashed at him.

He closed his eyes anticipating the attack until he realized nothing happened. Opening his eyes he saw the sharp end of the nata mere inches from his head as Stacy stared in stunned silence.

"What's going on? W-Why won't my body move?" She asked in shock only for Bradley to smile. This was his chance he thought as he quickly swung the bat up towards the nata in order to disarm her. Just for Stacy to grin widely as she easily parried the move and slashed into her B-man's arm causing him to drop his own weapon.

"Oh? I really had you fooled didn't I?" She chuckled as Bradley's back touched the wall. He was not only defenseless now but at a complete disadvantage. "So I suppose this is the end of it then." She brought the blade of the nata back before swinging it towards him. Only to hit the wall as Bradley ducked and ran forward past her. He didn't know how but he did it! He was going to escape! Nothing could stop him now!

Or so he thought as he felt himself flying in mid air before landing on his back. Having slipped on one of the puddles of blood in the room. It didn't take long for Stacy to be standing over him as he groaned.

"You know something B-man that stuff you said earlier?" She slashed the blade along his left leg. "I never believed you..." She slashed the blade along his right leg. "From the very beginning." She finished as she looked down at him coldly. "There. I can't have you running away now can I? Otherwise everything I've done up until now would have been for nothing, and you wouldn't want that right?"

Bradley was not only in extreme pain right now, but the majority of his limbs were useless. Even so he couldn't just give up and surrender here. He had to try until the very end. Using his only useable arm he began to try and slide across the floor to the door. He never stood a chance. Stacy was once again towering over him within a second, and this time her face once again contorted into an expression of pure, uncontrollable rage as she stomped her foot down onto his rib cage with all of her strength shattering every single bone in his chest.

There was nothing more he could do now. He had lost.

As he wondered what would become of him now. Well besides dying that is. He noticed his best friend begin to lower herself until she was sitting on, and straddling his waist to keep steady as her face went back to showing no emotion.

"I bet you're curious to know why I've done all this right?" She spoke in a comforting voice.

"Y-Yeah... W-Why?" Bradley fought to say as his collapsed lungs struggled to breathe.

"It's quite simple really?" She continued talking in a comforting tone as she ran her tongue along the blade of the nata before leaning forward and sliding her body up along his until their eyes were level with one anothers. "They were in the way. They were trying to keep us apart. So-I-killed-them-all." She said in a cute, sing song tone of voice that even now just creeped him out, and as her eyes locked on to his he began to see the truth. This was no longer the Stacy he remembered. In fact it was safe to say that the Stacy he knew was already dead. "As for the real reason I did it. Well that's a se-cr-et." She lightly kissed his nose much to his confusing before sitting back up and giggling softly.

"But it's going to be okay B-man because it's going to all be over soon... You want to know why?" She purred as a wide sadistic grin came over her face. Her pupils shrinking into tiny little dots as she raised the nata above her head. "Because we're going to be together soon! Just you and me forever! And nobody will ever be able to tear us apart ever again! Heeheehee... hahaha... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Bradley noticed his vision beginning to get blurry as he looked up at his friend who by now had gone totally insane. Thinking back over the past week he wondered if there had been any way to avoid such a tragic fate. Something he should have said or did that could erase all this, but it was too late now. In the end these were the cards fate had dealt him. If there was one thing he wished for it was wanting to see the real Stacy again. Even though he finally only realized it in the end. He knew or maybe he had always known that the Stacy he knew. The real Stacy. Wasn't just his best friend, but the one person he loved more than anyone in the world. If only he could see her one more time. If only he could have another chance to fix things.

"Sta...cy..." He managed to mouth before she brought the nata down swiftly. The sound of metal cutting into flesh and bone combined with the sound of her psychotic laughter as the remainder of Bradley's world faded away.

**TO BE CONCLUDED**


	6. Chapter 6

**Epilogue – Fragment**

Middle Stick Police Department

April 14th 2005

10:02 AM

Subject: Incident summary

On the morning of April 14th 2005 a unit was called out to Latchkey Garden Apartments at 5:03 AM by neighbors complaining of excessive noise. Upon arrival back up was immediately requested. It was discovered that the cause of the noise was coming from the loud howls of a wiener dog, but what was most suspicious was that it was covered in blood. The animal itself uninjured. Due to this we sealed off the area, and a search warrant was issued to investigate. These are the results of our findings.

A total of ten or more adults were found in the actual dwellings. All of them deceased. It was determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation caused after the ingestion of a narcotic. Further investigation revealed several syringes that had trace residue of drugs commonly used in lethal injection. How the culprit came about these is unknown.

The basement was by far the more gruesome site. In total we found eight bodies. Despite most of the bodies not being intact it has been determined that all of the victims in the basement ranged from around the ages of twelve to sixteen. In addition only two of the bodies were intact and recognizable. We have decided to call them Boy A and Girl A. We've also found a possible murder weapon that resembles a cleaver, billhook, or hatchet not too far away from the bodies, and forensics has confirmed that it seemed to be in the possession of Girl A. However, since it is the opinion of the department that a single girl couldn't have possibly killed an entire apartment complex on her own we are looking into the possibility that Boy A may have been an accomplice. Mainly due to how the bodies were placed. Both Boy A and Girl A were laying next to one another holding hands. Between them seemed to be a heart drawn in blood with the letters "B + S" inside of it. Whether this is a dying message as well as the meaning of the message is unknown. Right now, however, the department's theory is that after committing multiple acts of homicide Boy A and Girl A decided to commit suicide. Perhaps the guilt of their own crimes overwhelmed them?

Another possibility is that someone else. Maybe a full grown adult forced Boy A and Girl A to do his dirty work for him, and left them to their own devices afterwords. Not being able to live with the guilt they decided to take their own lives. This too is unknown until further investigation can reveal more facts.

As of now we've decided to name this the Latchkey Garden Apartments incident, and quarantined the area off to the public until further notice.

Until the truth behind this case is found. It will remain open.

..

_To get my happiness I had done everything,  
but had done nothing to be blamed and accused of.  
__The sound of footsteps became louder every day,  
Then I noticed the fact there was no time._

_I was a believer in life to be myself always,_  
_and was asking whether I would be alive._

_Give me a reason why not to adopt in this way,_  
_or judge me to be guilty of so many incurable sins._  
_Tell me why, or why not. Complaining way too much,_  
_maybe I overlooked something fatal for me._

..

Is the dream reality?  
Or is reality the dream?  
In the end that's for the dreamer to decide.

Stickin' Around – Red Flag – End

Anata wa shinji arimasu ka? (Can you believe it?)

I hope to see you again in another naku koro ni.


End file.
